Conecuh County's last Confederate veteran died 76 years ago today

George Washington Scott

Today – April 12 – marks 76 years since the death of Conecuh County’s last Confederate veteran.

According to a news story published under the headline, “Last Confederate Veteran Dies Sunday,” in the April 16, 1942 edition of The Evergreen Courant, “after a brief illness of only a few days, John T. Brown, age 95, the last Confederate veteran in Conecuh County, died at his home in the Welcome community at 11 o’clock Sunday night. Mr. Brown had been as well as usual up until this illness. He was in Evergreen last week, just before he was taken ill.

“Mr. Brown was born in South Carolina but moved to this state several years ago. He came to this county about six years ago and had made his home in the Welcome community. He is survived by two sons and two daughters.

“Funeral services were conducted at Welcome church Monday afternoon at two o’clock by Rev. J.R. Holman, M.E. pastor of McKenzie.”

Brown was born in South Carolina in 1847 to Jim and Priscilla Pittman Brown. The “T” in his middle name apparently stood for either “Timothy” or “Thomas.” Other sources indicate that his full name was John Thomas Timothy Brown.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Welcome community, it was located northeast of Travis Bridge, a short drive from both Covington County and Butler County. If you go there today, you’ll find the Welcome Methodist Church and Cemetery, just off U.S. Highway 31, not far from the County Road 61 intersection.

There in the cemetery, Brown’s grave is marked by a Confederate veteran headstone, which indicates that he served in the 5^th Florida Cavalry Battalion. According to archived battalion rosters, Brown served in Co. I, which was also known as Capt. A.F. Perry’s Co. Keep in mind that Brown would have been about 14 years old when the Civil War began in 1861.

According to unit histories, the 5^th Florida Cavalry was formed during the summer of 1863 and went on to take an active role in the battles of Braddock’s Farm, Gainesville, Milton and Olustee. The unit eventually surrendered to Union forces at Tallahassee, Fla. on May 10, 1865.

Civil War buffs in the reading audience will remember that the Battle of Olustee was the biggest battle fought within the state of Florida during the entire Civil War. Fought on Feb. 20, 1864 in present-day Baker County, Fla., the battle pitted about 5,500 Union soldiers against 5,000 Confederates, including Brown’s unit, the 5^th Florida Cavalry. The battle resulted in a rebel victory with 203 Union soldiers killed against 93 killed on the Confederate side.

At that time, the 5^th Florida Cavalry only had about 200 men in the entire battalion, and they made it through the battle without any casualties. Led by Major George Washington Scott, the battalion had fought in a variety of skirmishes and delaying actions against Federal forces in the day leading up to the battle, according to detailed descriptions of the incident. About midway through the battle, the battalion was inserted into the thick of the fight, joining up with the 2^nd Florida Cavalry.

In the end, Brown’s death in 1942 marked the end of an era in Conecuh County, which saw the population of its Confederate veterans dwindle slowly away in the early decades of the 20^th Century. Chances are some of Brown’s relatives still live in and around Conecuh County, and it would be interesting to know if any of them remember Brown. If anyone in the reading audience has more information that they’d like to share about Brown and his Civil War experiences, please let me know by emailing me at courantnewsdesk@gmail.com.